Capsule dispenser



July 3, 1962 D. E. DAILEY 3,042,257

' CAPSULE DISPENSER Filed March 2. 1959 United States Patent O 3,042,257j CAPSULE DISPENSER Donald E. Dailey, Evansville, Ind., assignor to MeadJohnson & Company, a corporation of Indiana Filed Mar. 2, 1959, Ser. No.796,379 1 Claim. (Cl. 221-309) This invention relates to a dispenser forcapsules, tablets, pills and similar articles.

Capsules and the like are normally packaged in jars, small vials,bottles or comparable containers and are dispensed by removing a closurefrom the container and shaking the desired number of capsules into thehand. Often more than the required number spill out and must be returnedto the container. Most such containers are relatively small in size andit is not practical to reach in and extract the capsules.

A principal object of the present invention is the provision of a noveland improved capsules dispenser which facilitates the delivery orremoval from a container of exactly the desired number of capsules.

One feature of the invention is the provision of a dispensing closurefor a capsule container having a mouth, comprising a container engagingportion having an openended tapered nozzle portion extending therefromterminating in a pair of spaced fingers, the length of the lingers beingof the same order as the length of one of said capsules. Another featureis that the nozzle has the form of a truncated conical surface with apair of slots in the walls thereof `defining opposed fingers which gripand lightly hold a capsule. A further feature is that the side edges ofthe slots are diametrically opposed to each other and are disposedparallel to a longitudinal axis of the nozzle, the said slots beingdisposed along opposite sides of the nozzle.

Yet another feature is that the closure has a first conical surfaceadjoining the open mouth of the container and a second conical surfaceterminating in the pair of spaced fingers which engage the capsules. Yeta further feature is that the second conical surface defines an anglewith the axis of the nozzle of the order of one-half the angle definedby the first conical surf-ace with the axis, the first conical surfaceserving to guide and align the capsules, directing them into the outernozzle portion defined by the second conical surface.

Further features and advantages will readily be apparent from thefollowing specific-ation and from the drawings, in which:

FIGUR-E l is an elevational view of a container and dispensing closureembodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the nozzle andclosure, illustrating its operation;

FIGURE 3 is `an enlarged plan View of the closure;

vFIGURE 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section through FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the fingers;

FIGURE 6 is a transverse section taken generally along line 6-6 ofFIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the initialsealing of the container.

The term capsule as used herein means both objects which are covered bythe technical definition of capsule (a cylindrical or sphercialcontainer, usually gelatin, for medicament or the like) and otherobjects or articles of similar size and shape as pills, tablets orpellets which may be spherical, ellipsoidal, parallelepipeds of squareor rectangular cross-section and modifications thereof. Such objects areusually, but not necessarily, medicinal in nature.

Turning now to the drawings and particularly to FIG- URE l, a container15 having capsules 16 therein is pro- ICC vided Wtih a unitary closure17 having an open-ended nozzle portion 18 extending upwardly therefroinand covered with a cap 19, The nozzle portion 18 of the closure has ageneral form of a truncated cone or circircular pyramid. A pair of slots22 and 23 are formed in the -wall of the nozzle, diametrically oppositeeach other leaving opposed tinger portions 24 and 25 which terminate ina blunt truncated tip 26.

The dispenser is utilized by removing cover 19 from the nozzle 18 andinverting the container whereupon the capsules 16 drop into the nozzleportion of the closure and are retained individually by the fingers 24and 25; Slots 22 and 23 permit the user to grasp a capsule 16 held bythe fingers 24 and 25 between the thumb and for'enger, as illustrated inFIGURE 2, whereupon it may be removed by pulling it outwardly againstthe light holding force of the fingers. The interior conformation of theclosure 17 directs another capsule 16 into dispensing position held byfingers 24 and 25 as the previous capsule is removed.

The interior of closure 17 includes a horizontal shoulder portion 17aengaging the open end of the container and two generally conicalsurfaces 29 and Sil. The surface 29 in the intermediate portion of theclosure adjacent the mouth 30 of container 15 merges with the mouthproviding an initial guiding surface for capsules 16. Second conicalsurface 30 corresponds generally in extent with nozzle 18 of theclosure. The angle between the surface 29 and the axis of the closure islarger Ithan the angle between surface Sil and the closure axis, and ispreferably about twice the latter angle. The exact angular dimensionsdepend to a certain extent upon the size and conforma-tion of thecontainer 15 and of the capsules 16. In a speci-fic dispenser forellipsoidal capsules, as illustrated in the drawings, the surface -29forms an angle of the order of 30 with the closure axis while thesurface 30 has an angle of the order of 12 therewith.

The edges of slots 22 and 23, and thus of fingers 24 and 25 arepreferably defined by the lines of intersection between a pair ofparallel planes, parallel with the closure axis and the surface of thenozzle 18. rIhis construction provides straight edged slots facilitatingremoval of the capsule held by the lingers; and having a wide baseportion for the fingers to provide adequate strength. The depth of theslots is preferably of the order of' or slightly less than the length ofan individual capsule, as ninety-five percent thereof, and the spacingbetween the fingers is such that a little less than half the capsuleprojects below the blunt tip 26 when it is held by the fingers. Withthis relationship, the user may easily grasp the exposed capsule withouttouching the next following capsule. The angular extent of the blunt tip26 of fingers 24 and 25 is preferably of the order of 60. This providesan adequate holding surface to prevent the capsule from falling outaccidentally while permitting easy removal. The closure 17 is preferablymolded of a slightly resilient plastic ma-terial so that the fingers 24and 25 flex outwardly upon removal of the capsule without damage to it.

Ideally, one capsule follows another into position in the nozzle 18 sothat the desired number may be removed by the user. It sometimes happensthat the conformation and surface characteristics of the capsules andthe container cause the capsules to jam or lodge in the throat 29 of theclosure. A slight shake of the container rear ranges the capsules andcauses them to feed into the nozzle 18.

-In FIGURE 7, a container is shown as it is packaged by a manufacturer.A sealing element 33, which may be a disc of cardboard or the like, isinterposed between the closure and the mouth of the container tomaintain the contents of the container fresh and prevent them fromentering the dispensing portion of the closure during shipment and otherhandling. The consumer merely removes the closure 17 and discards thesealing disc 33 before use. The cover 19 for nozzle 18 has frictionalengagement with an annular surface 34 (FIGURE 4) at the base of Ithenozzle and is removed and replaced by the user each time a capsule orcapsules are dispensed.

' While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention,it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changestherefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made Withoutdeparting 'from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed inthe appended claim.

, I claim:

y A dispensing closure for a capsule container having a mouth, saidclosure embodying a unitary structure and comprising a containerengaging vertical portion, means defining a rst conical inner surfaceportion adjoining the container engaging portion of the closure by meansof a horizontal shoulder portion and merging with said inner surfaceportion, and an open ended tapered nozzle portion extending from saidiirst said inner surface portion and having a second conical innersurface portion, the second conical inner surface portion forming asmaller angle with the longitudinal axis of the closure `than the angleformed therewith by the iirst conical surface portion, the tirst surfaceportion and shoulder portion providing a transition between Vthecontainer engaging vertical portion and the second named surfaceportion, said tapered nozzle being truncated normally to the saidlongitudinal axis and having a pair of slots therein the side edges ofwhich are parallel to the said longitudinal axis, the slots beingdiametrically opposed to each other, said slots being separated by apair of diametrically opposed capsule gripping resilient fingers ofgenerally similar configuration, each -iinger having a circumferentialangular extent with respect to said axis of the order of 60, at the tipthereof.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,955,559 Narrow -Apr. 17, \1934 2,026,188 Parrish Dec. 31, 19352,036,621 Brunetti Apr. 7, 1936 2,294,001 Ritter Aug, 25, 1942 2,838,204Snyder .lune 10, `1958 2,949,215 Mudge et al. Aug. y16, 1960

